Scheffer: Dutch television showed it yesterday (Sunday) evening and will show it next Sunday. It was a three-part series for television, but now I am going to work for the big cinema, feature-length documentary. But why I came to that is because he (Zappa) said about smoking, “Every puff of smoke is a delight.”

BP: Tehran was also in that documentary. I recall that because I'd just had class on Islam and my teacher told me how the women there were being creative trying to go as far as they could without getting beat up, and one of the women in the documentary had a kerchief pretty much hanging down her pony tail.

For the record. I just got this and I give it a thumbs up. Lengthy interviews (segmented) with JCB, Preston, Bunk and Tripp. I'd never seen Bunk or Tripp interviewed on camera before so it was especially interesting to get their perspectives. Billy James did a fairly good job of recounting the era, too.

Has anyone else in the UK received this from Amazon yet?I am certain that I pre-ordered it before it was actually available but cannot see the order in my 'order history'.Anyway, I've just ordered it from a private seller from the states

It's in small print on the back of the DVD-case: this film was not authorised by the Zappa heirs. That is not amazing. The family of the deceased in 1993 composer/singer/guitarist Frank Zappa refuses to cooperate on nearly all initiatives from the outside to map his immense inheritance. Still, the semi-legal DVD Alec Lindsell made on the life and works of Zappa in the 60s is worth the trouble. Connaisseurs and biographers like journalists Richie Unterberger and Ben Watson tell chronologically about Zappa's musical development. How he at an early age was fascinated by both rhythm & blues and the modern compositions of Edgar Varèse. On his first musical conspiracies with Ray Collins and Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) and of course about the first band line-up of the Mothers Of Invention. The drummer Jimmy Carl Black, who passed away last year, still seems indignant with the fact that Zappa terminated the band in 1969. Lindsell didn't have many live videos to work with, but he edits the records handily with archived material, so it gives a nice view of Zappa in the sixties.

For the record. I just got this and I give it a thumbs up. Lengthy interviews (segmented) with JCB, Preston, Bunk and Tripp. I'd never seen Bunk or Tripp interviewed on camera before so it was especially interesting to get their perspectives. Billy James did a fairly good job of recounting the era, too.

Lumpy Gravy wrote:

just added it to my netflix queue.

watched it tonight, and I thought it was pretty good too.

hardly any music, and when there is music, it's straight from the albums. except for a couple of bits and pieces of old tv-shows from european tv stations.and zappa himself is totally absent, throughout. that was expected, though, since, after all, this is an unauthorized documentary.still, it was interesting to listen to some of the old band members, giving their take on zappa and the days of the original mothers of invention.

so, this is only for the old fans who already know enough about this period, to be able to appreciate it. not for newbies with expectations of seeing zappa himself.

and ben watson got a bit silly, making references between the uncle meat cover and nazi-germany's treatments of the jews...

Finally got this from netflix yesterday. a few glaring inaccuracies, but a nice little doc overall.

Far and away the most interesting thing (for me) is the story of the disbanding of the origional Mothers from the point of view of the band members themselves. Too often the official line is nothing more than "Frank disbanded the Mothers" or "Frank wanted to play with better musicians." It was revealing to find out how surprising (and crushing) it was for the band to be cast aside seemingly at random.

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